


Papa, Don't Preach

by chairdesklamp



Series: KSH (Kazokuseirituhen) 1997-98 [2]
Category: Bleach
Genre: (I knew a lot of teen parents in high school), M/M, Teen Pregnancy, Things you should've learned in health class, Trans Ichigo, Trans Ichigo Kurosaki, Trans Male Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-13
Updated: 2019-03-13
Packaged: 2019-11-16 11:34:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,257
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18093515
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chairdesklamp/pseuds/chairdesklamp
Summary: (Trans!) Ichigo learns he's pregnant, and Issin does what ALL parents should do as best they can and most don't. Eleven-year old Chizuru makes Ichigo and Chad her queer mentors. Karin and Yuzu want to know which one of them the baby's going to play with.





	Papa, Don't Preach

**Author's Note:**

> Notes:
> 
> -“Reiatu” is rendered as “aura’ in all my Bleach stuff in English because actual Japanese people get shamed and beat for using Japanese words. This is why large swaths of the fandom deserve to feel awful. 
> 
> -I type Japanese words/names as I do because of the letters you punch to get the proper Japanese letter on IMEs. Japanese is my native language and probably not yours. Shut up.
> 
> -So jumping off how someone becomes a Fullbringer, ostensibly a developing soul sucks up whatever’s around it while in utero. So that makes me think someone able to feel aura might feel something before someone who can’t notices being pregnant due to second month nausea.
> 
> -Ichigo sucks at sensing aura, but a new aura in his womb, I’d think would be noticeable as something.
> 
> -If you’re a transphobe/gay fetish het creep, this will probably put you off, and I’m glad.
> 
> -Issin’s so permissive, he’d surely do what’s actually the right thing here. The only thing I’ve changed about him, really, is he’s not so hands-off/detached as canon. The title was picked because it’s the only song about teen pregnancy I know. This happens in this story because I knew a lot of teen parents, and the killing blow was always unaccepting parents who tossed them out. 
> 
> -That different people experience being trans and dysphoria differently is also an issue of mine that led to this.
> 
> -Also, the book Issin’s reading is by Murakami Haruki, who’s practically a national treasure. His books are kind of downers, but intriguing, and the protagonists do deserve their suffering. Most of Murakami’s works bear Japanese titles for Western songs. The one mentioned here is purportedly named for a Nat King Cole song (that must’ve been a limited recording or something). He names his novels for songs or other things. Since I use song titles, I wonder if it’s for being poor at naming. That’s why I do it.
> 
> -I couldn’t wait anymore to write eleven-year old Chizuru making 13-year old Ichigo and Chad be her queer mentors. 
> 
> -This picks up only a couple days after “Just the Way You Are’ leaves off. I’m posting on this site rather than ff.net for the ease of making collections. There’s a link to that at the bottom of this. 
> 
> -Nowadays, you’re supposed to call them “Child welfare facilities” or something like that, but not everywhere ditched orphanages. The foster care system America began in the fifties ain’t better, just cheaper.
> 
> -Crying itself isn’t gendered, per se. In many places not remade in British tradition, men may be expected to cry to show remorse if they screw up enough, and I’d think most men anywhere are expected to cry at something like the death of a loved one. But estrogen dominance, your gender regardless, can make you more given to crying, just as taking testosterone from an external source can also cause inability to cry. 
> 
> -Hairstyle aside, Kentarou looks like a friend of mine who moved away for work…not that that means anything to you.

“But I made up my mind  
I’m keeping my baby”—“Papa, Don’t Preach,” Madonna, USA, 1986

Ichigo had gone home to sleep alone after spending the evening with Chad the previous night as Chad had been helping the siblings Gisemba, the missionary owners of the orphanage he’d been in and the brother, Luke, the manager of the building he now lived in, with a burst pipe repair on another floor.

He hadn’t told Chad his worry, a worry he’d been harbouring since he started feeling a weight inside him around Thursday; he didn’t have the words for it.

Unable to sleep until the wee hours of the morning, he’d slept until ten, what with the grace of it being Sunday.

It looked like he’d have to tell his dad what Chad had offered to after all.

And if his guess was correct, he knew what he wanted to do.

Would that be a line his dad wouldn’t let him cross?

Would Chad leave him?

He cleared his head as he sat up out of bed, took a deep breath, and resolved to find out if he was right first.

Not that he could _keep_ his mind clear.

He walked straight downstairs, still in his pyjamas, his heart hammering so hard it stifled his breathing, glad that he’d missed his breakfast and his sisters were already at play. He could hear Karin trying to make her dolls fight Yuzu’s.

His dad was sitting on the couch, reading a copy of S _outh of the Border, West of the Sun_ Ichigo’d seen him read before, and that seemed more tattered in its paperback cover than the last time.

Ichigo came round and stood before him, hands clasped in front of him.

“Dad?”

Issin put the book facedown open to the page he was on, a habit that accounted for much of the book’s wear. He seemed alarmed by Ichigo’s hesitant tone of voice.

“What’s wrong, Ichigo?”

 

Ichigo steeled himself as they waited the few minutes for results. He leaned forward on the patient bed he sat on. He had to clear things up.

“Chad actually offered to tell you what happened right away. I was the one who said I’d do it only if this happened. He was just listening to me.”

Issin sighed, relieved, “Well, that’s good to know. That tells me he’s not a coward and he respects you. I like him a whole lot better than the other couple of people you brought around. I can keep being glad you chose him, then. I think he’s a decent kid.”

Ichigo gave a slight smile, “Thanks, Dad.”

Issin glanced at the test material results, his eyebrows shooting up momentarily. He turned to Ichigo.

“Well, you’re right; you’re pregnant.”

Ichigo took a deep breath and leaned back on his arms as Issin continued.

“I figured that was going to be the case the moment you told me your symptom. That’s something called aura, the same thing you feel around ghosts like the guy I just locked in the broom closet when we came in here, and also around anyone who can see them. Be pretty hard, I imagine, to miss that in your own body.”

Ichigo was still in mild shock, and now only more nervous.

“So where do you want to go from here?” Issin asked.

His dad was giving him a choice.

Ichigo squared his shoulders. He knew he was the luckiest boy alive, but it was still daunting to say.

“I’ve been thinking about this the whole time. I’m having it.”

Issin walked over and put a hand on Ichigo’s shoulder, “Okay, it’s your body, your life, and your decision. I’ll treat you, I can do the delivery, and we’ll deal with what we need to. The three of us do need to have some good long talks about this, but I'm here for you."”

“Thank you,” Ichigo’s voice was a shaky whisper.

Issin decided he’d been serious for too long.

“Of course—I’m your old man! But I won’t be able to train you with my classic World Famous Issin Attacks for nine to ten months! You’ll get rusty and won’t be able to face the challenges of youth! Your rival school’s gang will make chop meat out of--!”

Ichigo shook his head at Issin’s shouting and overacted crying.

“They are not ‘World Famous’! Besides, I know that term’s meaningless—Uncle Kisuke said _himself_ he can claim it because he once had a tourist from Czechoslovakia come in to ask directions! Everyone else who goes there except us comes from the senior centre down the street!”

“And how will I face him knowing I’ve stopped training my son’s environmental awareness!?” Issin continued to bawl.

“You did Aunt Yoruichi’s natal care both times; I’m sure they’ll understand,” Ichigo said, more bored than anything. He’d figured before they’d just gone to him because they trusted an old friend, but he was beginning to wonder if being able to perceive ghosts _did_ mean anything in medicine.

He supposed he’d find out.

Issin was too busy babbling and bawling to ask him at the moment, though.

Issin nearly flung himself on the counter with the sink, grabbed a picture frame and held it tight.

“Masaki, my only love, we’re going to be grandparents!”

Ichigo didn’t want to think about _whom_ would never see the eventual baby.

“Dad!”

Issin wiped a tear with his sleeve, “Yes, my only beloved son?”

Ichigo smirked and rolled his eyes. He was lucky to have him for a dad… sometimes.

“You’re the only person I’ve said anything to yet. I have to call Chad.”

 

  
All Ichigo had said on the phone was that Chad needed to come over right away, that it was serious, and that it was urgent.

Ichigo shut the door to his room behind them, pushing it up slightly to fit it in the frame.

He passed Chad, sat on the bed, and motioned for Chad to sit next to him, which Chad obliged him.

“Chad,” Ichigo said, watching his hands as he twisted them in his lap.

Chad put his arm around Ichigo’s shoulders as a gesture of comfort, but Ichigo’s back was as stiff as a board.

“Ichigo.”

This was it. Just bust through it.

“I’m pregnant. It’s yours—I didn’t do anything with anyone else….and…I’m keeping it.”

Chad’s hand had stopped rubbing Ichigo’s arm, but never left him.

The two stayed completely still and silent for several seconds that felt agonising to Ichigo.

Ichigo steeled himself for Chad to leave.

Then Chad pulled him in to a two-armed embrace and kissed the top of Ichigo’s head.

“I told you. I’m here for you.”

 _Fuck_ , Ichigo thought. He was going to cry again. And it was only going to get worse—he’d have to wait a few months longer to start testosterone, and pregnancy meant being flooded with estrogen.

Ichigo returned the hug, putting as much strength in his arms as possible, before letting go and looking up at Chad with a smile and clear voice.

“I need some air; let’s go outside.”

 

 

 

The stoop of the back door that led to the house portion of the building was too narrow for two people to sit, so they stood in the small, toy-littered yard facing each other, holding hands.

“I’m kind of nervous,” Chad admitted, “but also excited. This is…surprising.”

Ichigo smiled, “I was scared shitless. I still kinda am. But we have each other. And Dad wants to help. And…and…”

“Ichigo…”

Chad drew closer, Ichigo pulled his head down, and they kissed.

And kissed.

“Yay, oh my God! This is so cool! Hi! Hi!’

They broke apart abruptly, to see a clearly mixed little girl with red hair reaching her arms over the low fence.

“You’re a boy, and you’re a boy, and I’m Chizuru, and I’m eleven years old, and when I grow up, I wanna marry a girl!”

Ichigo and Chad blinked at her, slightly dazed before turning to each other.

“I think she lives a few houses down. I think I’m gonna let her in.”

Chad smiled. If she was eleven, they weren’t that far apart, but her introduction had been as adorable as Yuzu’s had been.

Hearing Ichigo, Chizuru waited at the gate with a huge smile, hands clasped in front of her face as she bounced on the balls of her feet.

Ichigo opened the gate, and she went to give him something not unlike one of his dad’s Certified Hugs of Doom, and he grabbed her by the shoulders before she could crush him.

He certainly wasn’t going to explain to her _why_ he absolutely could not be crushed, though.

Instead he gave her a smile, and steered her toward Chad and the house by her shoulder. “I’m Ichigo.”

“Yasutora Sado,” Chad replied.

Chizuru gave him big, irrefutable eyes, “Can I hug you?”

“Sure” Chad replied.

Chizuru clung to his waist, “This is so cool, you’re like me! This is so cool!”

A man’s voice floated over, “Chizuru, I’m home, let’s go get dinner.”

The owner of the voice soon appeared. Lanky, tall, he was in a suit, but his skin told of a love of the outdoors. His black hair was done in a style not entirely unlike that of Akira Kobayasi, one of the few enka singers Ichigo found more enjoyable than corny.

“Hi, I’m Kentarou Honshou, Chizuru’s dad,” he said over the fence.

“Daddy, these boys are like me, and we’re practically next door, this is so cool!”

“Oh?” Kentarou asked, smiling.

Ichigo pointed between him and Chad, “He and I are kinda dating.”

“Ah,” Kentarou nodded, not losing his smile. “I’m afraid my daughter’s been kind of lonely. There’s not much out there for gay and lesbian fifth-graders.”

Chad stepped closer to the fence and put his hand out to shake. Ichigo followed his lead. This Mr. Honshou seemed welcoming enough.

“Yasutora Sado.”

“Ichigo Kurosaki. My dad owns the clinic at the other side of the house.”

“Nice to meet you.” Kentarou turned to his daughter.

“You can come back and play with Ichigo and Yasutora later. Now we have to go eat. Daddy’s really hungry, and I bet you are, too.”

Chizuru pouted, “Okay.”

She turned to the boys, “When can I come play?”

“I’m probably gonna be home early tomorrow,” Ichigo answered.

Chad raised an eyebrow at the new information, but went along with it, “I’ll be with him.”

“Okay! I’ll come over then!” Excitedly, she ran through the still-open gate to Kentarou’s arms, “Daddy, I want yakisoba and chocolate cake tonight!”

As the two disappeared down the street, Ichigo led Chad into the house.

“Are you feeling sick?” Chad asked.

“No,” Ichigo replied, “that may or may not happen in a few weeks. I’m just gonna ask dad for a day off to process this.”

“I’ll stay with you. If you want.”

Ichigo turned to Chad and looked up with a softness that made Chad’s heart melt, “I’d like that.”

Karin and Yuzu were playing—two different types of play, it seemed—together in the living room. Ichigo took Chad’s hand, as his eyes landed on his dad back to his book on the sofa, and back to the girls.

“Karin, Yuzu, I have something important to tell you.”

Yuzu looked up, sniffling from crying about Karin’s dolls fighting her dolls that only wanted to play house.

“Did we do something wrong?”

“What? No. No, no one did anything wrong. But it’s very important. And I need you both to listen to me.”

The room went dead silent, since the girls’ yelling had been the only noise.

Just bust through it.

“Most boys, like Chad or Dad, can’t do this. But remember how I became a boy?” He asked, fishing for the easiest way to explain to seven-year olds.

“Yeah.”

“Uh-huh.”

“So boys like me can do something that when you grow up, you two can do if you want to.”

“Become a princess?” Yuzu asked, starry-eyed.

Ichigo deflated. “No.”

Yuzu seemed saddened that Ichigo wasn’t spontaneously becoming royalty, but things were going nowhere, so Ichigo pushed through it.

“I’m having a baby.”

Karin and Yuzu both stood up, excited. Yuzu jumped for joy, “We get a new playmate! Is she gonna be a girl?”

Karin pouted, “I bet he’ll be a boy and we can play my way!”

“No way, she’ll be a girl and she’ll want to have tea parties with me!”

“No, Big Brother is a boy, so he’ll be a boy and we can play with bugs and play kickball ou—“

Ichigo put hands on one of each of their shoulders, “We don’t know yet. No one knows yet. The baby’s not gonna be born until, what…”: Ichigo paused to calculate.

Issin was leaning his chin on his elbow, on the arm of the couch, beaming with fatherly pride at how well his children seemed to be handling this with each other, “May tenth to June eleventh of next year,” he piped up, “A little after you girls turn eight.”

Both girls only got more excited.

“Our birthdays are gonna be together! I hope it’s a girl and we can have princess-theme birthdays!”

“I hope it’s a boy, and we can have spiders!”

Ichigo leaned, relieved, into Chad, watching as the girls bickered about whom the new baby would be more like.

Ichigo knew he was lucky.

He had a lot of good people in his life.

He was lucky.

It was going to be okay.


End file.
